


Coffee In Sync

by crystalklances



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Barista Keith (Voltron), Barista Lance (Voltron), Co-workers, Fluff and Humor, Hate to Love, M/M, Smitten Keith (Voltron), i mean come on i am physically incapable of writing anything but smitten keith, sort of ?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 03:25:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14463948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalklances/pseuds/crystalklances
Summary: Keith is excited to start his side job at the coffee shop. Too bad he has to find out that his co-worker, Lance, is an annoying chatterbox. But while they start off on the wrong foot, fate has a different idea.





	Coffee In Sync

**Author's Note:**

> Request was to write Klance as barista co-workers who don't get along at first, but eventually grow closer. It's a little different than what I usually do, ahaha. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Keith had felt great after his successful interview. He had felt even greater when he got the email telling him that he got the job. A side job as a barista was such a cliché thing for a student, but it was something that Keith was confident he could do well. The on-campus location of the coffee shop also made it very practical.

And so, he arrived to his first shift in good spirits. The uniform was comfortable and didn’t look too stupid, the nametag on his chest wasn’t a bother, either. He had to pull his hair back in a ponytail as well as use a small hairband for his long bangs just to be sure, but that was okay; Keith was used to it from his sports.

Everything was great and he couldn’t wait to get started. But then, he met the guy he was sharing his shifts with.

Sure, the guy was kinda cute with his upturned nose and small freckles dotted all over his cheeks. But he was _annoying_. He was like a human rubber duck, voice loud and kinda squeaky. And he talked _a lot_ , like a radio that didn’t have an off-button. His body language was more expressive than Keith had ever seen on a human. As Keith would soon learn, his signature gesture was double finger guns.

The weird part was that the guy looked kinda familiar, but Keith shook that thought off.

As it stood, even if he was annoyed, Keith had to be friendly. After all, they were co-workers working the counter together—one at the register, the other preparing the drinks—so they had to get along, at least on a surface level. He was convinced though that he would never be _friends_ with Lance.

While he didn’t know yet just how _wrong_ he was, their first few shifts proved him right.

Lance wouldn’t stop chatting, be it with customers, or into Keith’s general direction during times with lower traffic. Lance, who started out operating the register, always greeted girls with toothy grins and finger guns before he took their orders. In those situations, Keith half expected to find Lance’s phone number scribbled on the cups he was supposed to make the drinks in. When he discovered that it was never the case, a weird wave of relief washed over Keith that he had no idea where it came from. After all, he didn’t like Lance.

A couple of weeks in, Keith was growing tired of the endless stream of chatter. He interrupted Lance with a gruff, “Could you stop talking for once?”

Lance looked at him in surprise for just a second before his expression turned into a huff. “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr Grumpypants. I didn’t know that talking was a crime now.”

Keith was very glad that no one was around at the moment. Causing a scene with his coworker probably didn’t count for good workplace etiquette. He resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose as he said, “I’m not telling you to shut up forever. But tone it down a little, will you?”

Lance merely gave him a glare before he turned around as a new customer had just entered. For the rest of the day, the atmosphere behind the counter felt kinda frozen.

 

It turned out that Lance seemed to have taken it personally. Following that afternoon, Lance didn’t say a single word aside from regular customer interactions. And Keith suddenly felt himself _missing_ Lance’s chatter, which was weird. How could he miss something that had annoyed him? It was probably just that he didn’t like this frosty air between him and his coworker. He sincerely hoped that the customers didn’t feel it too.

But even worse than that was when Keith finally figured out that he did, in fact, share some classes with Lance (which explained how Lance had looked familiar). And now he saw those glares not just on the job, but also whenever they crossed paths anywhere on campus.

Keith found that he didn’t like this. He had to apologize to Lance, even if it was just to restore the peace at work. (A little, quiet part of Keith hoped that maybe he could one day see Lance’s toothy smile directed at _him_.)

But Keith had to find that it was easier said than done—and things took a dip for the worse first.

A short time after the incident, Keith received a couple of complaints about making the wrong drinks. Keith smiled, apologized, and made new ones—even though he _knew_ he had worked correctly going by the receipts Lance had slipped over to him.

After the group of girls had left, Keith confronted Lance about it the moment he came back from the backroom. “Why are you giving me the wrong instructions? Is this your idea of revenge or whatever?”

“What are you talking about?” Lance asked. He looked genuinely confused and caught off-guard, which made Keith feel a little bad about his tone and crossed arms (even though that was kind of his standard pose).

Keith waved the receipts in front of him. “Just now, the entire group of girls? They all complained that I made them the wrong drink so I had to fix their orders.”

“Wait, what?” Lance’s eyebrows knitted. “But I’m _sure_ I got them right!”

“But you _didn’t_ ,” Keith pointed out. “Try to pay attention so it doesn’t happen again.”

He immediately regretted his words, as Lance reacted defensively, crossing his arms (ironically mirroring Keith) and looking a mix of upset and angry. Lance snapped, “Well then wise guy, if you’re _so superior_ why don’t _you_ handle the register then?”

Keith knew he really shouldn’t rise to it, especially because he brought this forth himself, but he wasn’t exactly good at backing down from anything that was presented as a challenge. “Fine, I’ll show you how it’s done right,” he said and walked all up into Lance’s space to take over the register. He couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination or if there really was this spark of _tension_ between them—a tension that could well just be the tangible anger, but also something… different, something Keith couldn’t make sense of at the time.

Even in this brief moment, the charged up air between them made Keith’s chest feel constricted. It was only when Lance walked over to the other side of the counter where Keith had been before that he could breathe again.

As he looked out into the store, Keith became aware of the small audience of customers that had probably caught the entire scene, judging by the many curious or even amused looks. He had a feeling that there were many posts on various social media platforms about him and Lance now. He just hoped they wouldn’t get in trouble if their manager heard about it.

The rest of their shift proceeded without incident. Every so often, Keith would glance over at Lance, watching him prepare drinks. His face was focused, his hands worked carefully, but swift and efficiently. With the way Lance was always moving around or fidgeting with something, Keith thought the job was perfect for him. He wondered why they hadn’t done it like this from the start. Keith himself had no issues with either the register or preparing the drinks, so he wouldn’t mind a permanent switch. Every time he glanced at Lance when he gave the drinks out, he imagined him chatting with the customers, giving random compliments or making some other comment like he had done when they had started out, instead of _just_ giving his toothy smile and saying the routine words. The scene really didn’t feel right without Lance’s chatter.

When they left at the end of the afternoon, there was an awkward silence. While Keith was considering his words, Lance was the first to speak. “I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier.”

Keith turned in surprise. Lance was looking stubbornly ahead, not meeting Keith’s eyes. Keith’s lips quirked up and he said, “It’s okay. I’m sorry too. That includes for what I said the other day.”

“It’s okay. I mean, I know that I can be really annoying.” Lance laughed nervously. “Sometimes I just need to talk, you know? Especially in bustling environments like this.” He paused for a fraction of a second before he mumbled, “And I hoped we could maybe become friends, so I tried catching you in conversation. Guess I didn’t take the hint until you had to spell it out for me.”

Hearing that Lance had tried to befriend him made Keith’s heart skip a beat. “You’re not annoying,” he said. “Well, maybe you were _a little_ , but that was before I gave you a chance to get to know you.” A small pause. “Maybe we could start over?”

Lance finally turned to face him, a small smile on his lips. “I’d like that.”

Keith smiled back. Then he asked, “Do you want to keep this setup for our shifts? Me on the register, you making the drinks, I mean.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Lance replied. “Why?”

“No offense, but it looked like preparing the drinks suits you better. Because you always move your arms around and stuff anyway?”

“None taken. And yeah, I guess I do better when I can do something that keeps my hands busy.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “If it’s okay for you, we can switch from now on.”

“Yeah, either is fine for me. We could alternate too?”

“Okay.”

When it came time to part, there was a moment of exchanging silent gazes. Keith adjusted the strap of his bag. Lance was tapping his toes. Finally, Keith said, “Uh, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Lance offered a smile. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

They left in different directions. Keith’s step was lighter than he would like to admit.

 

From then on, things started to look up. The frosty air melted away to make way for a pleasant spring breeze as Lance’s random chatter returned and Keith started to join along. Work flowed smoothly to the point that Keith felt like he was syncing up with Lance (if that was even possible). He started to love his shifts with Lance so much that he missed him when they parted ways. It was for that reason that he started seeking Lance out just to spend more time with him; even if it was just for working in silence together at a library table.

Sure, they still clashed from time to time. But now, it was far different from the beginning. And with time passing, Keith found it harder to ignore this tension of _something_ between them. Something that could go anywhere, if either of them had the guts to act on it. Keith didn’t know what could happen, or if he was _ready_ for whatever it was, but he knew that he couldn’t back down.

After a particularly busy shift that felt surprisingly stress-free (Keith attributed that to ‘the Lance effect’), the two of them left together as it had become habit for them. Before they parted ways, Keith said, “Hey Lance?”

“Yeah?” Lance looked at him with curiosity shining in his eyes.

“Wanna go out some time?”

“Go out for what?” Lance asked. “Like, like a _date_?”

“Yeah. I guess like a date,” Keith confirmed. “I would say for coffee, but considering we’re _both_ working at a coffee shop…”

Lance laughed softly before he said, “Well, there are other options for a first date. Like the movies, if all else fails.”

“You sure about that?”

“Actually, yeah, a movie date sounds sweet,” Lance said. Then, he flashed his toothy grin. “As long as you invite me since you brought it up.”

Keith couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, that’s fair enough. Next time, it’s gonna be on you.”

Lance raised an eyebrow, but his smile remained in place. “That’s bold of you, assuming there’s gonna be a next time.”

“Is that a problem?” Keith mirrored the raised eyebrow.

“Nope. In fact, I like that.”

Keith ignored his jumping heartbeat to say, “Let’s do this, then. Is Saturday night alright for you?”

“Sure!”

Keith smiled. “It’s a date, then.”

He was excited to find out where this would lead.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/crystalklances), [tumblr](https://crystalklances.tumblr.com) and [instagram](https://instagram.com/crystalklances) where you can find out about different ways you can support me!


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